This invention relates to a method for treating and processing textile fibers and fabrics and, more particularly, to an improved method for treating and processing textile fibers and fabrics with aqueous compositions which contain a liquid, low-foaming, surface active agent.
The manufacture of textile products requires the use of surface active agents in literally every phase of textile treating and processing. In many cases liquid compositions are involved, generally in an aqueous system to which a surface active agent is added. Surface active agents are used extensively as the sole additive, but more often, as integral parts of liquid compositions containing a variety of other ingredients depending on the particular phase of the textile processing that may be involved. Among the numerous applications in which surface active agents are used in the textile industry are for wetting out of fabric, removal of impurities, cleansing and lubrication of fibers, dyeing, dispersion of treating compounds such as solvents, softeners, water proofing and permanent press finishes, and the like.
Many such textile treating and processing operations use high speed equipment or involve vigorous agitation. Because of their inherent surface active properties, surface active agents usually generate foam in the aqueous processing bath. The foaming is generally undesirable since, for example, it can result in exceeding the capacity of the equipment used, can cause uneven application of treatment chemicals, can cause excessive foam in textile mill effluent and the like. Consequently, where foaming is a problem, antifoam additives or low-foaming surface active agents are used. Antifoam additives are very effective in preventing foaming, but add to the cost and complexity of the operation and may also result in compatibility problems with other components.
Nonionic surface active agents are widely used in textile operations where advantage is taken of their superior performance as a wetting agent, their detergency and scouring characteristics, as well as their adaptability for being combined with other types of surface active agents, resistance to hard water conditions, and lubricity characteristics. Although nonionic surface active agents as a class are generally low to moderate "foamers", they foam too much for many textile applications.
In recent years, a number of nonionic surface active agents have been developed and used commercially which are designated as "low-foaming". However, nonionic surfactants heretofore developed to meet low-foaming requirements have been found to have sacrificed other desirable characteristics such as wetting and scouring properties. Thus, the suitability of such compositions for use in many of the textile operations is limited and a number of different surface active agents are generally needed for the wide range of textile operations.
It has long been the practice to prepare nonionic surface active agents by the addition of ethylene oxide or mixtures of ethylene oxide and propylene oxide to various alcohols. Numerous different adducts have been prepared, some containing only oxyethylene groups while others contain a random distribution of oxyethylene and oxypropylene groups or discrete blocks of polyoxyethylene and polyoxypropylene. For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,101,374 to Patton, U.S. Pat. No. 2,674,619 to Lunsted, and U.S. Pat. No. 2,677,700 to Jackson et al. are disclosed compositions which are prepared by the addition of varying proportions and mixtures of alkylene oxides to reactive hydrogen compounds such as alcohols. More recent patents such as, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,770,701 to Cenker et al. and U.S. Pat. No. 3,956,401 to Scadera et al. disclose surfactant compositions prepared by the addition of specific proportions of ethylene oxide and propylene oxide to straight-chain aliphatic alcohols having 8 to 20 or 7 to 10 carbon atoms. The compositions disclosed in each of these patents are described as being biodegradable liquids which exhibit high detergency (U.S. Pat. No. 3,770,701) or low-foaming (U.S. Pat. No. 3,956,401) but it is not shown by either patentee that any of the compositions provide a combination of these properties or of other desirable surfactant properties such as superior wetting, nor, from the teaching thereof would one skilled in the art expect these patented compositions to exhibit such desirable combination of properties. Other recent patents such as, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,338,830 to Stokes et al.; 3,306,850 to Olsen; 3,943,178 to Stein et al.; 4,115,457 to Wiedemann, and U.K. Pat. No. 1,371,770 to Wiedemann disclose various nonionic surface active agents that are useful for specific textile applications, but it is not shown in these patents that the surface active agents are suitable for use or exhibit the necessary combination of properties required in the multitude of operations employed in the manufacture of textile fibers and fabrics.